http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
IN the wake of Florida's presidential debacle, everyone is still
talking about how to modernize voting machines and make
sure that all votes count in a photo finish. But almost no one
is paying attention to an arcane process that ultimately has
a greater impact on who gets elected.

This year, the census has set in motion the redrawing of
political districts. In many states, the process will result in
sundered communities, Etch-a-Sketch gerrymanders, court
suits and charges of discrimination. Just as citizens need not
put up with spoiled ballots or vote fraud, they should also
demand more order and fairness in what is now an ugly
backroom practice.

Elbridge Gerry gave birth to the gerrymander in 1812, when,
as governor of Massachusetts, he drew a district that
resembled a salamander; his opponents named the creature
after him. But such districts were child's play. Now,
block-by-block computer maps of the nation allow the party
in power to create maps with tortuous nooks and crannies.
Too often, the result is a plan that allows elected officials to
choose their voters, rather than the other way around.

Twenty years ago, the late Rep. Phil Burton created an
infamous gerrymander that he called "my contribution to
abstract art." One district was an incredible 385-sided figure.
Voters tolerate such mischief because they don't know
about it. Despite fierce debate, a Field poll found that 41%
of Californians had no opinion about the "Burtonmander." But
when read a neutral description of gerrymandering, 82% of
voters disapproved of the process, and only 10% favored it.

A 1986 Supreme Court decision held that gerrymandering
that artificially entrenches a majority party over time may be
unconstitutional, but set a very high bar for such challenges.
However, post-Florida, there is an environment in which
court challenges may be more likely, and in which talk of
ways to cage the gerrymander is at least possible. So this
could be a rare opportunity for genuine good-government
reform.

Another reason for cautious optimism is that for the first
time in generations both parties are going to be gored by
gerrymanders. Democratic dominance of state legislatures
vanished in 1994, and today Republicans control the
governor's mansion and both legislative houses in 14 states,
which together have 107 House seats. Democrats will control
redistricting in 10 states with a total of 127 House seats.
California's Democrats will deliver an updated version of the
Burtonmander, while Florida's GOP legislature will draw
friendly lines of its own.

The redistricting process has just gotten under way, but
enough states have reported in to give a rough idea of how
four distinct redistricting models work:

• The Republican gerrymander. In 1991, Democrats
controlled redistricting in Virginia and lumped 15 Republican
state delegates into eight districts. But over time, even that
plan couldn't prevent a 1999 GOP takeover of the state
legislature. This census, Republicans hold the pen, and have
designed a plan that lumps nine Democrats into four districts
and divides some cities.

• The Democratic gerrymander. Even though each party
has one legislative house in Indiana, Democrats control the
process because stalemates are settled by a commission
that they dominate. The new congressional district map
includes a seat designed to satisfy Democratic House
Speaker John Gregg's yen to move to Washington. The 3rd
District, which has combined South Bend and Elkhart
together in the same district since 1932, has been
renumbered, and the counties separated, to preserve a
Democratic seat.

• The 'Tiebreaker Is G-d' Commission. New Jersey
Republicans would control the redistricting process save for
the fact that under public pressure the legislature turned
over the job to a bipartisan commission in 1979. The 10
members are joined by an independent, tiebreaking 11th
member appointed by the chief justice of the New Jersey
Supreme Court. Larry Bartels, a Princeton professor with
well-known liberal views, was named the tiebreaker. He sided
with Democrats who wanted to spread out minority voters so
they would impact more of the state's 40 state legislature
districts.

The new map reduced the number of majority-black districts
to one from three. The GOP proposal preserved those seats
and added a second majority-Hispanic seat. A federal judge
has blocked the Democratic plan until he hears GOP
arguments that it dilutes minority voting power. Last week's
Supreme Court decision upholding a mild form of racial
gerrymandering bolsters GOP arguments that New Jersey's
plan improperly eliminates minority districts. It will also allow
the GOP to forge opportunistic alliances with minority groups
on redistricting.

• The Computers Do It. Iowa is unique in that its
redistricting is done by the professional staff of the
legislature. They are charged with maintaining "the unity of
counties and cities" and creating compact districts without
regard to previous election results. By law, they cannot take
into account where incumbents live, or any demographic
information other than population.

This year, 50 of Iowa's 100 House members were tossed
together in the same districts, along with 20 of the 50
senators. Even so, the staff-drawn plans for seats in
Congress and the state legislature have a good chance of
winning approval. If the legislature turns them down, they
must call special sessions to vote on a second, and then a
third plan.

Iowa Republicans now hold four of five congressional seats in
a state that voted for Al Gore, so it's no surprise that they
will lose a little advantage this year. A new urban district
that combines Des Moines and Ames moves from a toss-up
to narrowly Democratic. GOP Rep. Jim Leach's district adds
enough Republicans so that the GOP has a chance to keep it
when the 24-year veteran retires. GOP Rep. Jim Nussle and
Democrat Leonard Boswell have safer seats, though Mr.
Nussle will have to move. The only clear overall winners are
the voters, who have five compact districts in which not a
single one of the state's 99 counties is divided.

It certainly would be too much to expect states with a more
partisan tradition and a larger minority population to emulate
Iowa's good-government purity. But just as the war against
chads won't be won in a day, states could adopt standards
that prevent the worst gerrymandering abuses by demanding
contiguity and compactness. Last year Arizona became the
sixth state to have a commission draw its political
boundaries.

Upon leaving office, Ronald Reagan promised that he would
devote time and energy to "tell the American people the
truth about how the electoral process has been distorted" by
gerrymandering. His voice stilled, others must take up the
call. Unless districts are fairly drawn to preserve competition
and the idea of a political community, many elections,
basically predetermined, will be rendered meaningless. When
voters learn the truth, it becomes yet another reason for
them to stop voting--as they are doing in growing
numbers.

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